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Man Became Gay Sex And Gambling Addict From Parkinson’s Drug Says French Court

A French National won a historic lawsuit today against drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. Didier Jambart, a married father of two, claimed that the Parkinson’s drug Requip turned him into a compulsive “gay sex and gambling addict.”

A French appeals court in the city of Rennes ordered British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to pay 197,000 euros ($255,824) in compensation to Jambart who began taking the drug in 2003. As the International Business Times noted, GSK had been ordered to pay Jambart 117,000 euros ($151,000), a decision which it had appealed.

The Independent reports that, after taking the drug to treat his disease, he developed an “uncontrollable passion” for gay sex and gambling. He claimed that Requip caused him to begin cross dressing and getting lewd on the net. He also claimed that the behavior brought on by the drug got him raped during one of his risky sexual encounters. He claims that all the desires stopped once he stopped taking the drug.

Jambart said in a statement after the verdict:

“at last [I am] going to be able to sleep at night and profit from life. It has been a seven-year battle to get it recognized, with the limited means at our disposal, that GSK lied to us and shattered our lives, but it’s not as though we’ve won the lottery. This will never replace the years of pain.”

Jambart’s story is unique as the side effects have not been seen in other patients. The heart of GlaxoSmithKline’s argument is that the drug had nothing to do with his behavior and he is looking for a scapegoat after getting caught leading a closeted lifestyle.